A Promise Kept
by Flash Foreward
Summary: When Severus Snape tries to keep a promise, he finds that Lily’s son is being mistreated, and he concludes that the opinions he had formed about muggles based on his father are true. AU One Shot.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter.

**A/N:** Just one of those late night plot ideas...Enjoy!

**A Promise Kept**

"We cannot interfere, Severus," Dumbledore said, his voice quiet and stern as he peered over his half-moon spectacles at his late night visitor. Severus shook his head in frustration, then met the older wizard's gaze as his stringy black hair settled back around his face. Dumbledore took note of the fierce determination in Severus's dark eyes.

"I promised I would look after him," Severus said. It was obvious he was struggling to keep his voice steady, but he took a deep, shaky breath, clenched his fists tightly at his sides, and pressed on. "He's been in that house for nearly ten years. I just…I want to check up on him."

"I'm afraid I cannot allow it," Dumbledore replied with hardly a moment's thought. He raised a hand and continued before the other man could interrupt. "You have no true concern for the boy. Your loyalties lie only with his mother and a promise you made to her shortly before you betrayed her."

"I di-"

"No, Severus." Dumbledore's expression saddened as he spoke, his voice growing quiet. "I'm sorry,. But it is what's best for the boy."

And, though Severus's body shook with frustration and rage, he knew the matter was settled.

"_I worry, Severus," she said. "I worry that he'll find us. That he'll kill us."_

"_Then why did you come here?" he snapped, pacing back and forth before her. She stared at him, taken aback by his words and his tone._

"_I'm sorry," she whispered pointedly. "I hadn't realized I was such a bother." She stood, he halted his pacing. "I'll just go, shall I?"_

"_I didn't mean," he started, but her hand was already on the doorknob. She turned back, gazing at him expectantly. "I…I'm sorry," he said. "Please stay? It's good to see you again after-"_

"_After you called me a mudblood and joined up with _him_?" she asked. Her voice was harsh and he cringed at her words, but she turned from the door and faced him. "Why did you do it, Severus?" she asked. He stared down at the floor as he spoke, unable to look her in the eye._

"_It's what's best."_

"_What's best?" she asked. "What's _best_? Best for what? Best for _who_?"_

"_What's best for the world," he replied, finally raising his eyes to meet he__r gaze. "For the Wizarding world." She shook her head and stepped forward, placing her hands on his chest and looking up into his eyes._

"_Do you really, truly believe that?" she asked. "That muggle-borns are somehow inferior? That _I'm _inferior?"_

_A silence hung between them and Severus looked away from her. He raised his shaking hands and took hers in them, lowering them from his chest to her sides before letting go._

"_My father was a muggle," he whispered._

"_So that's it, then?" she asked. "You get stuck with a bad lot and you take it out on all of us?"_

_"That isn't. I didn't mean-" She cut off his protest with a shake of her head and stepped away from him._

"_I should go, Severus," she said. "But, before I do, promise me something."_

"_Anything."_

_She scoffed. "Don't lie, Severus."_

"_I mean it, Lily," he said, stepping towards her. She shook her head and he froze, dropping his arms to his side._

"_If anything should happen to me or to James," she said. "If Harry should be left alone. Care for him, will you?" Severus opened his mouth to reply, but Lily continued quickly. "I know you don't like James, and I know you aren't the biggest supporters of muggles, but we were friends once, Severus. And I'm asking you as a friend, look out for my son."_

"_Of course."_

Severus stared at the house. It was simple, ordinary. If he'd just been passing he never would've guessed that one of the most famous wizards in the world was inside, growing up with no knowledge of who he was. It was all so…muggle.

Severus shuddered at the thought, but he made his way up the front walk to the door. He knew he was disobeying Dumbldore's direct order, but there really wasn't much he could do. Every night he dreamed about that day when he'd promised Lily that he'd watch over the boy and, as much as he hated James Potter, Harry was Lily's child, too.

Keeping his promise was the least he could do after, well, everything else he'd done.

He smoothed wrinkles from the suit he'd chosen to blend in, and made sure he had easy access to his wand (just in case) before knocking at the door. There were crashes and shouts from inside, and he stared quizzically at the house, wondering what was going on.

"Get. In. Your. Cupboard!" a loud, angry voice growled from just inside the door. Severus took a step back, slipping his hand around his wand, as the door swung open to reveal a more than portly man with a very purple face.

The man sized Severus up, then nodded.

"You must be the new client, then," he said. "I'm Vernon Dursley, do come in."

"New client?" Severus asked. Vernon tilted his head (a rather tricky thing to do, Severus noted, as there was very little neck to allow for tilting) and took in Severus's appearance once again.

"The new client for Grunnings," Vernon said, nodding as he did so. "Yeah, you must be. You've got the look about you. C'mon in," he stepped back, and Severus slipped into the house. "I'll introduce you to the family."

Vernon led Severus into the living room, where a stick-thin woman and a massive boy were sitting on the couch.

"This here's my wife, Petunia," Vernon said, gesturing to the woman. "And that's our son, Dudley!" Vernon's voice was proud and he grinned widely as he turned back to Severus, who was nodding his head slowly.

"And what of the other boy?" he asked. Vernon's smile fell and his face began to redden.

"What 'other boy'?" he asked.

"Harry Potter," Severus replied calmly. "He _does_ live here, does he not?"

"You've no right!" Vernon shouted. "No right to come into _my_ house looking for…for…a _freak_ like…," he trailed off as Severus leisurely slipped his wand from his pocket and pointed it at Vernon. He ignored Petunia's gasp and Dudley's shriek as he advanced on the man of the house.

"I am coming here as a favour to the boy's mother," he said. "_Your_ sister, I believe," he added, quickly glancing at Petunia then back at Vernon. "I'm surprised you don't remember me."

"Y…you're the boy…from the summer," Petunia managed.

"Very good," Severus said, a sneer growing on his lips. "Now, where is the boy?"

"Nasty little boy," Petunia muttered under her breath. Severus turned his attention to her, his eyes flashing. He kept his wand on Vernon as he advanced towards her.

"Where. Is. He?" he asked. Petunia looked up at him, anger in her eyes.

"I wasn't talking about _him_, though he is as well. I was talking about you," she snapped. "I've no idea what Lily ever saw in you!"

"Do you think I care what a muggle like you thinks of me?" he asked, carefully controlling his voice as Lily's words echoed in the back of his mind. _Do you really, truly believe that? ... That I'm somehow inferior?_ "I came to ensure the boy was safe. Where is he?"

"He's in the cupboard," Petunia said.

"Petunia!" Vernon cried out, but he was silenced by a glare from Severus, and Petunia was allowed to continue.

"Beneath the stairs."

"Remain here," Severus said. He kept his eye on the family as he slipped quickly from the room into the front hall. He ran his eyes along the stairs and found the cupboard door easily. He undid the lock and opened the door to find a young boy with messy black hair and piercing green eyes had been pressing his ear against it.

"Harry Potter, I presume?" Severus asked, crossing his arms and taking a step back. The boy straightened up and nodded, gazing up at the wizard, his eyes wide behind his glasses.

Severus surveyed the boy, surprised at how much he resembled James. But the loathing he felt at the thought of the boy's father dissipated quickly as he noticed how _small_ Harry was. The boy was ten, but he was so skinny that he was swimming in the clothes he wore. The clothes were already obviously too big on him, but they seemed even bigger hanging from his malnourished frame.

"Follow me," he said, his voice clipped, and he turned on his heel and marched back into the living room. The Dursley's were still there, still stunned at the gall Severus had to come into _their_ house and treat them in such a manner, and Vernon was quick to start yelling when the wizard returned.

"Take you and your freakish self out of here, d'you hear me?!" he demanded. Severus ignored him, pulling Harry in front of him. The boy flinched at the touch, and the action did not go unnoticed by Severus.

"This is not how you treat the son of Lily Evans," he said, pinching a bit of the fabric that hung so loosely around Harry's body.

"He lives under _my_ roof, I'll treat him however I bloody well please!" Vernon retorted.

"If it were your _son_," Severus said. "Would you want him so abused?"

"Abused?!" Vernon asked incredulously. "We _feed_ him! We took him in when we could've just left him out to starve and freeze!" Severus laughed. The sound was cold, humourless, and he felt Harry shake in his grasp.

"You call this fed?" he asked, holding up Harry's stick like arm and winding his fingers around the wrist. "What do you give him, the scraps off your table? Like he's some sort of dog?"

Vernon's face was growing redder and redder, and Severus suspected he was about to shout yet another "how dare you," but the wizard was quick to continue before Vernon could speak.

"You keep him locked in a cupboard, you hardly feed him, and I wouldn't be surprised if you hit him occasionally," he said.

"Not anymore," Harry piped up. Severus looked down to find the boy craning his neck to look up. "Uncle Vernon can't catch me anymore, I'm too quick. It's just Dudley now, but I'm usually too quick for him, too."

Severus squinted his eyes, thinking over what the boy had said, then shook his head and looked back at Vernon. "Regardless," he said. "What if this was your son?"

"Well he's not!" Vernon snapped. "And he's not yours, either."

"He could have been," Severus whispered, momentarily forgetting where he was.

"What was that?" Vernon asked.

"Nothing," Severus said, quickly returning his attention to the situation at hand. "You will treat this boy properly. If he arrives at school in this condition, it will not go unnoticed and you will be held responsible."

"He won't be going to your ruddy school!"

"Oh, you think so?"

Vernon had no response. Severus simply nodded.

"As I thought. Now, I will take my leave of you, but," he brandished his wand at each member of the family in turn. "Remember what I said."

He turned on his heel and strode quickly from the house, shuddering once more before he quickly disapparated from that blasted street.

.-.-.

"I told you not to interfere, Severus," Dumbledore's voice was steady, calm. The man before him shook his head.

"I made a promise, Professor," he said. "I had to keep it. Besides, they were abusing that boy."

"And you did what about it, Severus? Made sure he was alive to rest your conscience and then left."

"I warned them," Severus defended, glaring at the older wizard.

"Will a warning be enough?" Severus didn't respond, Dumbledore nodded. "Is your conscience at peace?"

"I was right," Severus whispered after a short pause.

"Right? About what?"

"Muggles." Severus looked up, catching Dumbledore's eye.

"Severus…"

"No, Professor," he said. "I was. First my father, now _this_? Don't try to tell me it's a rare occurrence."

"I won't, Severus. But, Lily was a muggle-born. Remember that."

.-.-.

The morning dawned bright and Harry Potter woke to a banging on the cupboard door. He was disappointed. He'd thought that, after that strange man's visit, things would be different. He sighed and slipped on his glasses before leaving the cupboard and padding quickly to the kitchen where his Aunt Petunia had bacon already frying.

"Make sure that doesn't burn," she said. "I want it all perfect for duddykins!"

"Yes, Aunt Petunia," Harry said. He cooked the bacon in silence for awhile while his aunt set the table, but curiosity got the best of him. "Aunt Petunia, who was that man who came here yesterday?"

A plate slipped from Petunia's grasp and shattered on the ground. Harry whirled around at the sound, startled. His aunt bent down to clean it all up, and answered quickly.

"No one came here yesterday, boy," she said as Dudley marched into the room and sat down.

"Breakfast!" he demanded.

"You must've been dreaming," Petunia finished, throwing out the ruined plate and taking the pan from Harry. She filled up three plates with bacon and eggs and toast, and one with a single piece of bread. Vernon appeared as she was filling glasses of juice for everyone, and Harry watched dejectedly as everyone ate their breakfast, picking at his own.

Dreaming, of course. Another one of his dreams. First flying motorcycles and flashes of green light, now a man coming and telling the Dursleys that they'd better treat him right. How could he ever have thought _that_ had actually happened?

Breakfast was over far too quickly and Vernon started ushering Dudley towards the door, booming about how it was time to find him some new clothes. Petunia lingered behind, cleaning up the table and putting the dishes by the sink for Harry to wash. As she passed Harry on her way to the door, she set something on his nearly bare plate.

He looked down to find a piece of bacon sitting there. When he looked up to thank her, she was gone. But, though Harry had quite a few chores laid out for him, he found himself smiling. It wasn't a dream after all.


End file.
